Rail-joint.



eatemafoct. 11, 910

w. at; s. amnomson I RAIL JOINT v APPLICATIOS FILED DEC. 27, 1907.

8 a w 5 s w a e I u h m a To all iii-ham it may concern.

' joint.

service. and what is mostimportant, great considerable distance from thehead of the "eXz'lct ezescription, reference being bad to the be bestundcrstoml by reference to the ac- WILLIALI IE. THOMSON AND SAMUEL G'.THOMSON, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA ASSIGNORS TO rnomson-rnomsovcompan orrmmnnnrnm, PENNSYLVANI A PARTNERSHIP. a

I a BAIL-JOINT.

72,735, Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patnted Oct, 11, 1910Application and December 27, 1907. Serial No. 408,296. I

with a jaw portion 6 which extends around the base flange of the rail, apiece 7 of insulation being interposed between it and the upper surfaceand outer edge of the base of Be it known that we, WILLIAM P. Trim:-

and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful ImprovementlliRall-JOlntS,

similar material being placed underneath of whiehth'c following is afull, clear, and

the base of the rail and supported by the lower jaw. lhe upper portionof the bar accompanying drawings, forming part of r is, as shown,separated to a considerable disthis specification, in which- Fig-ares 1to 3 are sectional views show 8 of wood or similar material throughwhich ing ditierent forms 01 our improved rail the bolts 4. extend. Thelower portionof H the bar 3 also has :1 depending bolting flange Ourinvention has relation to the class of 9 forthe. bolts 5. rail joints.and is designed to provide an insulated rail joint; which combines thefeathe upper and lower bolting flanges of the 1 titres of chcapnesssa'l'c insulation and hard bar 3 form a straight vertical girder. 'lhcHIOdIl'lC-ZLUOD shown in Fig. 3 is similar to the form shown in Fig. 1,except that stiil'ness without, being too rigid, all of which are"fundamental requirements. i

The main feature of our invention con- Lists in a rail joint ha'lingasplice bar which has a continuous upright girder and a flexible portionlocated adjacentto the vertical plane of the outer edge of the railbase. The continuous girder extends from the top to the bottom of thebar and lies in a generally upright position; we desire in some cases tobend the lower portion of the upright; girder slightly inwardly forpurposes explained hereafter. ()ur bar rontacts only with thcbroadinsulated faces of the base portion of the rail, and is kept at a outerside oi the upright member 3 and the nut 4, in lieu of the insulation.In the case where tlie'wooden blocks are used above .or below the railbase metal may be placed between the block and the rail or between theblock and the splice bar, without departing from the spiritof ourinvention.

shown and described, the only contact bekept'at a considerable distancefrom the web rail where the insulation is invariably and head of therail. pinched out and destroyed Isulliciently to make a metallic contactbetween the rail and the bar in the. insulated railjoints heretoforeused.

The-precise nature of our invention will almost invariably 1.;i ichedout and destroyed at the head of the raii so as to permit metalliccontact between the rail and the bar. By

of the rail, there is no possibility of getting companying drawings,wherein we have a metallic contact between the rails and the shownseveral modified forms thereof, it being premised however that theinvention on the base of the rails. is susceptible of various other:nod-ilication; without departing from the spirit and scope of ourinvention.

In the drawings, the nunicrai 2 wherever seen designates the rail, 25the splice bars, and '4 and lithe jointbolts the former being the boltswhich extend through the web por-, tion of the rail, and the. latter thebolts. which extend below the rail base.

In the form of the invention shownin This construction 'matcrialrequired, and with the various arrangements of the wooden blocks makes avery cheap insulated joint. It will be noted that the block as shown inthe upper pocket not essential to the splicing or stiffening capacity ofthe joint,-but that it can be omitted:

insulating material'which will exclude any tilt} will, and a bl k. 7!ood or other tance from the rail with an interposed block 55 v i i Fig.2 shows a form similar to Fig. l, but 7 0 a wooden block 8 is interposedbetween the 75,

facing plates or separate insulating mat so I Itwill he noted that.- inall the t'orms' 8 'tween the War and the rail is at the base of i therail, the upper member of the bar being It has b en found in 901practice that. the insulation of a rail oint is keeping the metal partsaway fromthe head bar, except through the broad'bearing faces alsogreatly lessens the amount. of insulating 7 lwtwccn the bar and the webof the rail is or this pocketcan be filled with any kind of V Fig. I,the lower part ofthe bar 3 is-formed substance which might otherwise getinto it ED TA ES PATENT OFFICE. I

tralized. Our preferred form has vertical upper and lower boltingmembbrs, near the outer edge of the rail base, with inwardly extendingresilient bearing ribs in order to give great stiffness to the bar andat the same time form an elastic and springy structurewhich is very muchless liable to damage the insulation than a rigid longitudinal memberhaving a solid bearing under it. Such arrangementof the lower membertogether with the inwardly extending bearing member above the rail baseand the upwardly extending bolting member inclosing the block gives avery cheap construction and at the same time an insulated joint which isstiffer and safer against damage than any yet constructed. It isessential to have the bolts above the inwardly extending jaws at thispoint ,horizontalpull of the bolts.

and below the rail base in order to get adeuate clamping etl'ect. It isalso very essential tor the barto have a narrow neck or flexible sectionextending around the rail base and connecting the upper and lowerportions of the bar, in orderthat the action of the upper and lowerbolts'wili effectively clamp thev rail base. We claim as entirely newthe combination of the two boltim leverage members acting on flexibleinwardly extending clamping flanges in such a way as to give a clampingaction on the top and bottomof the rail base in addition to the directThis clamping action is greatest adjacent to the rail web where it ismost effective in holding the rails to line and surface and yet theflexibility of prevents the insulation from being pinched out as is thecase with bars bolted above and below the rail base and having theirbolting members joined to the case clumping, members adjacent to therail web. Thenarrow neck portion around the outer edge of the rail basegives a great closing-in or horizontal clamping elasticity to the barsand yet does not. perceptibly decrease the great ver-- tical stiffnessobtained by the almost con-. tinuous vertical girder formed by the bolt"ing'members. The flexible inwardly extending clamping jaws also afford amaximum lateral stillness to the bar with a minimum amount ofmetal,which with the clamping action ives an insulated joint which will be vere ective in maintaining the rails in line an surface by its action onthe base of the rail only and without any assistance from a sulation hashitherto been almost immediately pinched out between very rigid faces.

Our new construction combines the greatest stifl'nesscoupled with-thegreatest elasticity in relieving the insulating bearing faces and givesa bar made with a minimum amount bearing under the head of the railwhere in-' or metal that will always adjust itself to a Y perfect fitand stay in a tightened position I for a long time. The bolts above andbelow the rail base increase the bolting capacity to a maximum. Theymaintain a perfcctlyllat fit between all the bearing faces and do notallow the bars to kicl; out below and thus throw all the pressure on onepart of the insulation which soon results in its destruction.

plied to ordinary T-rails as an insulated ]OlI1t, it Wlll be obviousthat it is applicable to rails of other sections, and that certain\Vhile we have shown our invention as apinsulating parts can be omittedor replaced I by 'metal parts to alf'ord a positive joint for regularservice, or to afford an insulated jointwhich contacts with onerail'an'd is insulated from the other rail end.

Although we show wooden blocks in our drawings, we may use in theirplace any kind oi'filling material that will act as an insulator auditis with this interpretation that we use the word block in our claims.

\Ve claim V '1 1. In a rail joint, a splice bar having two uprightbolting members located adjacent to the outer edge of-the rail base,flanges pro-- jecting inwardly to form a recess to receive the greaterportion of one of the base flan es ofthe rail, and bolting means aboveand low the rail base to clamp said inwardly j projecting flanges to therail base. 7

2. in a rail joint,'a splice bar havin an upright bolting member abovethe rail ase and another upright bolting member below the rail base,both of which are located adjacent to the outer edge of the rail base, a

flange projecting inwardly along the rail base from each of said boltingmembers to clam the rail base, and bolting means for holding said splicebar to the rail.

3. In a rail oint, a splice bar having two upright bolting members lyingin lanes adjacent t0 the outer edge'of the rail ase,boltmg means appliedto said bolting members above and below the rail base,.a-nd baseclampingflanges projecting inwardly to form a recess whlch 1s contract-able bythe application of said bolting means.

4. In a rail joint, a splice bar having anupri ht bolting member joinedto an in war 1y rojectmg'member aboye the rail base and another u rightbolting member 'oined to an inwar ly projecting memberelow the railbase, each of which juncturcs forms an L-shaped structure having its a-1 adjacent to the outer edge of the rail base,

l y L and bolting me ns above and below-the rail base toelamp saidsplice bar to the rails.

In a rail joint, a splice bar having an L-shapcd portion above the railbase and embracing a filling block between. its members and the rail,another L-shaped portion below the rail base. and bolting means aboveand below the rail base to clamp said parts to the rails. v

'G. In a rail joint, a splice bar having an npright bolting member abovethe rail base, a filling block between said member and the web of therail and another block on the out-' side of said member another uprightboltin; member below therail base, both of which bolting members arelocated adjacent to the outer edge of the rail base, a fian e projectinginwardly from each of'said bolt ing nwinhers to form a recess to receivethe greater portion of one of the base flanges of the rail, and boltingmeans above and below the rail base to clamp said parts and the railstogether;

T. In a rail joint, a splice bar having two upright bolting memberslocated adjacent to the outer edge of the rail base flanges projectinginwardly to form a recess to receive the greater portion of one of the.base flanges of the rail, bolting-means above and below the ail base to,clamp said inwardly projecting flanges to the rail base,and means forinsulating said splice bar from the rail. 8. In arail joint, a splicebar having two upright bolting members located adjacent to the outeredge of the rail base, flanges projecting inwardly to form a recess toreceive the greater portion of one of the base flan es of the raih andbolting means above and elow the rail base to clamp said inwardlyprojectingflanges to the rail base, the upper upright bolting membersbeing entirely outside of the heads of the rails. e

In testimony whereof, ive have'hereunto set our hands; WILLIAM, P.IHO1\TSON. SAMUEL G. THOMSON.

Witnesses:

S. E. Pa'i'rn'nstm, MeLnon THOMSON.

